The present invention is in the field of horticultural equipment and accessories and pertains particularly to conduit clamp devices for straightening and/or preventing conduit twisting in polymer-type watering conduits.
A Disclosure Document Deposit Request for xe2x80x9cHose Straightening Device for Straightening Sprinkler or Drip-Head Bearing Garden Type Hoses,xe2x80x9d was filed on Jun. 28, 2002, and accorded Disclosure Document No. 513965.
In the field of horticulture, there exist a wide variety of systems and accessories for watering gardens and other landscaped areas. Of the more popular implements are do-it-yourself watering systems that are sold with basic parts that need assembly in order to complete a customized watering system. One of the most successful of these products is sold in kits containing among other accessories, a main water delivery conduit and smaller diameter extension conduits that can be attached to the main delivery conduit.
Lengths of the main delivery conduit and extension conduits can be purchased in custom lengths as required. Accessories such as conduit plugs, t-junctions, elbows, and the like are provided to help construct the shape of the system over a given landscape. Watering-head accessories such as drip-heads and range-angle sprinkler heads are provided to facilitate different types of watering needs. The accessories are also sold separately from the original kit.
The only tools required to set up a do-it-yourself watering system like the one described above are a pair of scissors or knife to cut desired lengths of conduit and a puncture tool to provide a seat for threading in the sprinkler heads at desired locations along the conduit length. Special fittings are also provided for adapting, for example, a 0.750xe2x80x3 diameter main delivery conduit to standard water faucet outlets. Ease of assembly makes. the system popular to many household users.
In general deployment of such systems, the main delivery conduit is laid-out along an area that will be watered. Extension conduits supporting drip heads and the like may be run from the main delivery conduit directly to plants being watered. Sprinkler heads are typically applied at desired spots along the main conduit by using a puncture tool for starting them and then threading the heads in until they are seated on the main conduit. The heads are rotated once installed toward the plant or plants that they will supply. 90-degree to 360-degree watering ranges are possible by providing a head with the suitable range capability.
A specific problem exists in the above-described type of system in that after laying out the main conduit and installing the required watering accessories to reach plants, the conduit has a pre-disposition for longitudinal twisting over time. This twisting problem is aggravated by heat and cool-down fluctuations typical of summer weather patterns. In some geographic regions where hot days are followed by much cooler nights the twist problem is much more pronounced. Twisting of the main conduit after sprinkler-head installation causes the installed heads to go out of perpendicular alignment such that they are no longer pointing at the correct elevation for watering. Some may begin to point upward while others may point into the ground causing the water stream to fall short of the watering target.
Stakes can be used to stake the main delivery conduit to the ground; however the stakes do not provide any insurance against longitudinal twisting of the conduit. One way to prevent twisting is to board the main conduit by clamping it every several inches along the path to a baseboard or running board by drilling pilot holes and using half-clamps to screw the conduit securely to the board. While this method may prevent twisting provided the clamps are compressing the conduit sufficiently against the board, the cost and work required to accomplish the set-up is more than most users are willing to put up with. Moreover, the presence of the boards themselves can be unsightly in a landscape.
Therefore, what is clearly needed is a conduit clamp that can easily be applied along desired points of the main delivery conduit to prevent and/or correct conduit twisting. Such a device can be provided economically as an accessory for various diameter conduits, and can be un-clamped and moved to different points along the conduit if desired.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in a conduit system subject to twisting of a conduit around a longitudinal axis, a staking device for fixing the conduit in position on a ground surface is provided, comprising a clamping apparatus having gripping elements on an inside surface of an opening substantially the size and shape of a cross section of the conduit, the clamping element openable to fit over the conduit and closable to clamp to the conduit such that the conduit may not rotate relative to the clamping element, a stake adapter mounted to the clamping apparatus, the stake adapter having a sleeve opening with an opening of a first size first and a longitudinal axis substantially tangential to the clamping element, and a stake having a length and substantially the first diameter to slide into the sleeve opening and into the ground surface, to pin the conduit securely to the ground surface, preventing rotation of the conduit.
In preferred embodiments the stake further comprises an upper portion having a shape following the shape of the clamping element, such that with the stake inserted the upper portion of the stake engages the clamping element to aid in pinning the clamping element and the captured conduit to the ground surface. The conduit may be circular in cross section, and the inside opening of the clamping element may be also circular. In some embodiments the clamping device is formed of a first and a second portion, the first joined to the second by a hinge to make the device openable, and wherein the clamping device further comprises a latching mechanism opposite the hinge for latching the device closed to grip the conduit.
In another aspect of the invention a method for fixing a conduit to a ground surface to prevent longitudinal twisting of the conduit is provided, comprising the steps of (a) closing a clamping apparatus having gripping elements on an inside surface of an opening substantially the size and shape of a cross section of the conduit, the clamping element openable to fit over the conduit and closable to clamp to the conduit, over the conduit at a selected position; and (b) passing a stake through a stake adapter mounted to the clamping apparatus and into the ground surface, the stake adapter having a sleeve opening of a first size and a longitudinal axis substantially tangential to the clamping element.
In yet another embodiment a method for resetting a twisted conduit to a ground surface to realign directional elements attached to the conduit is provided, comprising the steps of (a) closing a clamping apparatus having gripping elements on an inside surface of an opening substantially the size and shape of a cross section of the conduit, the clamping element openable to fit over the conduit and closable to clamp to the conduit, over the conduit at a selected position; (b) rotating the conduit and clamping element to reposition the directional element; and (c) passing a stake through a stake adapter mounted to the clamping apparatus and into the ground surface, the stake adapter having a sleeve opening of a first size and a longitudinal axis substantially tangential to the clamping element.